Improvement in lubricators for steam-engines



R. COLBURNf Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engins.

Patented July 16, I872.

U NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD COLBURN, OF NORWICH, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN LUBRICATORS FOR STEAM-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 129,460, dated July 16, 1872.

To all persons to whom these presents may come:

Be it known that I, RICHARD 'COLBURN, of Norwich, of the county of New London, of the State of Connecticut, have invented an Improved Apparatus for Lubricating the Cylinder and Piston of a Steam-Engine; and do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawing, of which Figure 1 is an external elevation, andFig. 2 a vertical section, of the said apparatus.

In such drawing, A denotes a steam-cock, provided with a cylindrical tubular extension or neck, at, extending up from it and also another such extension, b, projecting downward from it, as shown. A male screw, 0, is out upon the upper neck to receive a reservoir, B, which has its bottom or female screw d to fit a and engage with the said screw 0, the projecting part d of the receiver being made prismatic to receive a wrench, as occasion may require. Below the said part at is a clamp-nut, C, which is screwed upon the screw 0 and against the part d. There extends up from the neck a an induction-tube, D, which is open at its upper end and goes nearly up to the top of the reservoir. By revolving the reservoir on the neck a the former may be moved either up or down upon the neck in-order to properly adjust the upper part of the reservoir to the top of the tube D to insure the requisite fiowage of lubricating material into the tube. The reservoir at top is open or provided with a cylindrical neck, e,

having a male screw, f, cut on its outer sur-' face. The upper end of the neck is formed or provided with a ground seat, g, to receive an internal cap or cover, h, arranged concentrically within a hollow dome or external cap or cover, E, screwed upon the neck e and formed as shown. The internal cover has a journal, h, projecting up from it into a corresponding bearing, '5, in the main cover and rests against a spring, F, arranged within the said cover E in manner as shown. On screwing down the external cover the internal one will be forced upon. its seat by the spring against which the external cover will act.

It has been found very difficult to keep the different degrees of expansion of theparts when heated, more or less leakage will result, but by applying the internal cover to the external one so as to be'capable of revolving in and independently of it and employing with the two a spring arranged in manner as shown, a tight joint will be maintained, however the parts may be expanded by heat.

When this lubricating apparatus is in use its reservoir is to be supplied with oil or tallow, or a lubricating compound, the apparatus being supposed to be fixed to and arranged over an engine-cylinder, so that oil. escaping down through the steam-cock may pass directly into the cylinder, steam from the latter being allowed to freely flow upward into the reservoir and upon the oil. As the steam may condense within thereservoir the water produced by such condensation will descend in and through the oil and elevate it up to the top of the tube D, down through which the oil will escape as it may rise above such tube. A waste-cock, H, appliedto' thereservoir, enables the water to be discharged therefrom as occasion may require.

I make no claim to anything shown and described in the United States Patent No. 86,009, in which the oil-escape tube is represented as screwed into the bottom of the receiver and provided with a check-nut arranged within the reservoir, such enabling the tube to be regulated or adjusted in height within the reservoir. To efi'eot thesaid adjustment requires that the cap of the reservoir should first be removed from such reservoir. Besides the adjustment is attended with considerable difiiculty in getting at the nut. With the nut arranged outside of the reservoir and the two screwed upon the steam-cock neck having the interval pipe rigidly fixed to it, the adjusting of the reservoir with reference to the tube be comes a much easier matter without any necessity of first removing the caps or covers of the reservoir from it.

I therefore claim, in the above-described im proved lubricating apparatus-- 1. The combination of the spring F, the rotary internal cap h, the external cap E, and the reservoir B, all arranged and applied together substantially as shown and specified.

2. Also, the reservoir B and clamp-nut 0, arranged and screwed upon the neck a of the steam-cock A', in manner as set forth, and hav in g the tube D extending from such neck up Within the reservoir, as explained.

RICHARD COLBURN.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, J. R. SNOW. 

